RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive

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zippsinc
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2008/04/27 15:10:08 (permalink)

RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive

Hi there

I've done a search and found all kinds of advice given to others on this forum. Some of this advice was a tad confusing regarding my own situation in relation to my own plight to have a PC setup that will optimise 'my' recording.

I intend to go about a much needed PC upgrade in a week or so and have a few nagging doubts about some stuff before I purchase it. I was wondering if I could get advice from some of you?


RAM
I intend on upgrading to 2GB of DDR2 RAM (2x1GB) in order to replace the two 512MB PC2-4200 DIMMs already there. According to this webpage which gives info on my exact motherboard model, my motherboard can support DDR2 PC2-4200, 5300, 6400 and 8500. Does it matter which of these I go for? I'm assuming that the 8500 is faster. Is this so?

I remember some of the posts I read advising people to ensure that their RAM did not exceed their CPU clock speed or CSA? Should I be concerned about this? If so, how do I stop this from occuring? My CPU is a P4 3.06GHz. Here are two pics of my RAM specs. Pic1 and Pic2.

I don't why but the info in the above pics in which the CPU-Z program gathered states that my RAM is PC2-4300 (266MHz). However, I have physically taken my DIMMs out and looked at them and they deifinitely have PC2-4200 written on them. God knows what's going on there. Anyway, I was thinking of getting something along the lines of 2 of these. Is there better that I should be aiming for?


Hard Drive
I already have a 250GB Hard Drive in my PC but know I need another to write to and store my audio data on. I was was thinking of getting something like this which is a 250 GB, 3.5, SATA-300, 7200 rpm with a buffer: 16 MB. Is this the kind of thing I should be looking for? Or should I be aiming higher? I'm afraid I'm not clued up on hard drives at all.


Monitor(s)
I am brand new to Sonar and the concept of PC Recording and have spent several years on hardware recording. Lately, having cut my forefinger finger-tip terribly at work leaving me unable to play any intruments or record anything just now, I'm not too sure about my monitor number needs just yet. I am aware of lots of people using 2 monitors in most of the recording packages out there which exist. If I was opting to use 2 monitors somewhere down the line, would I need a graphics card with 2 VGA outputs? Or, would I get by using the one VGA output in which my current graphics card has along with the use of a VGA Splitter?

Do many folks out there get by okay using 1 monitor?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated


Kindest Regards

ZippsInc
#1

9 Replies Related Threads
    losguy
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    RE: RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive 2008/04/28 18:02:22 (permalink)
    That Seagate 7200.10 should make for a very good workhorse audio HDD. It should support enough audio tracks for all but the biggest projects (~100+ tracks).

    For dual display monitors, you definitely want a video card with dual outputs. If you intend to use LCD monitors, then get a card with dual DVI ports (not VGA). For independent dual display, the VGA splitter is not what you are looking for.

    Psalm 30:12
    All pure waves converge at the Origin
    #2
    zippsinc
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    RE: RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive 2008/04/29 15:57:01 (permalink)
    Thanks for that Losguy

    I've ordered the 250GB 7200rpm hard drive. I'm kinda thinking I should have gone for the 500MB one but hey that's showbiz...lol

    Edited to add: A friend visiting is about to buy a 250GB hard drive so he's gonna take the one I've ordered. I'm now going to go for the Seagate Baracuda SATA, 500GB, 7200rpm, 32MB buffer one.

    As for monitors, my graphics card which is an nVIDIA GeForce 7300LE 256MB - pictured here, has 1xVGA output and 1XDVI output. I think with this set up, I'm gonna be limited to dual VGAs via the use of a DVI/VGA adapter in my DVI output? Aren't I?

    However, according to Wikipedia's DVI explanation, there are several DVI connections out there. As far as I can make out, my DVI output connection (referring back to my picture above), is the DVI-I (dual link) type which is Integrated, Digital & Analog. Does this mean I can run 2 LCDs of this one DVI output?

    Or am I better sticking with my other theory and buy a DVI/VGA adapter and go with 2 VGAs? Is this dooable?

    Or better still, go with Losguy's advice and buy a new graphics card with two DVI outputs? This would require digging deep for the finances though.


    As for my RAM question in the original post, I'm gonna go with the best of the bunch. I figure that if my motherboard supports it then it won't hurt the smooth running of my PC.

    Kindest Regards

    ZippsInc
    post edited by zippsinc - 2008/04/29 16:39:52
    #3
    losguy
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    RE: RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive 2008/04/29 16:12:19 (permalink)
    Many LCD monitors come with both VGA and DVI inputs. You could use your card with no adapters, just run DVI on one monitor and VGA on the other one.

    OTOH, you could just buy a new video card. For a DAW, you don't need a fancy one, so it may not have to be all that expensive an option.

    Psalm 30:12
    All pure waves converge at the Origin
    #4
    zippsinc
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    RE: RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive 2008/04/29 16:22:11 (permalink)
    Thanks Losguy

    You're a true gent. I reckon I'll go for 2 LCDs now.


    Regards

    ZippsInc
    #5
    foxwolfen
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    RE: RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive 2008/04/29 17:40:19 (permalink)
    It is probably cheaper to get a larger monitor that supports a wide screen aspect and 1920x1200 which is the current HD (BlueRay) standard.

    Its a surprising amount of usable space and you do not have to fiddle with dual monitor settings and their associated problems. If the two screens you buy are high resolution, like 1600x1024, you may not be able to run them at full res as most vid cards today support a maximum resolution of about 2560x1200.... and LCDs not run at native res do not look good. I used to run dual monitor, but found the split in the screen annoying, and Windows XP did not always behave properly with things like maximize to desktop.

    Decent modern monitors will support HDMI (the new HD multimedia interface - which could eventually replace MIDI). DVI is a subset of HDMI and there are DVI to HDMI cables. There are two types of DVI - DVI-i and DVI-d. DVI-i type cards will not support progressive scan DVI-I monitors as they are actually analog outputs. So ensure the card is DVI-d

    Dual DVI-D (Digital) is standard on quality video cards. Cards that still support VGA or Analog are usually older generation or low end cards.

    An Nvidia GF7200 may be a good price, but they are not great cards by todays standards and will not support DX10, or the new DX10.1... you will be 2 generations behind. A lower series 8500/8600 do not cost much more and will be able to at least support DX10 - and trust me you will be going to Vista sooner or later (the same people who refuse to use it today and call XP the best there ever was, are the same people who complained about XP when it came out and said Win98 was the best there ever was - its called progress and Vista is maturing rapidly).

    For audio a 250GB hard drive will be fine. For video production it would be too small (an 80 minute HD movie can consume more than 500GB in uncompressed form). Given that a lot of us do Video theses days (even midrange camcorders do HD) this is something any new hardware purchaser should be aware of.

    The speed difference with RAM will not be seen on a low end computer. Its often more about bragging rights than it is about real world performance on the consumer level. Your best value today lies in the 800mhz ram as its cheap, stable and fast (the faster clock speeds on ram have become secondary to other factors in the last few years).

    Cheers
    Shad
    post edited by foxwolfen - 2008/04/29 18:07:53

    A scientist knows more & more about less & less till he knows everything about nothing, while a philosopher knows less & less about more & more till he knows nothing about everything.

    Composers Forum
    #6
    zippsinc
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    RE: RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive 2008/04/29 19:20:12 (permalink)
    Thanks for the info foxwolfen

    Errrrr, I think I get it.

    What kinds of inputs do most LCD monitors come with? Do most come with both VGA and DVI?

    The monitors I've looked at are a tad confusing. For instance, do some come with DVI-d inputs whereas others come with DVI-i? It's just that places like amazon do not specify which. Also, if an LCD monitor like this one says that it has an analogue input signal, does this mean that it uses a VGA input exclusively.

    The info I've been looking at regarding the GeForce 8600 doesn't seem to specify a type of DVI either.

    Off the top of my head right now, I might be looking at two LCD monitors using the VGA with one and the DVI with the other. However, the differences in connection compatibility with monitors is a little confusing....lol

    I'll keep researching


    Thanks again foxwolfen. You're info is much appreciated.

    ZippsInc
    #7
    foxwolfen
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    RE: RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive 2008/04/29 19:41:35 (permalink)
    DVI-D is what you want. Analog, like music, requires a DAC and there is signal loss. As the LCD is a digital device (verses a CRT which is an analog device) then you want to stick to a digital input.

    The GF8600 should be DVI-D. It should have dual DVI-D outputs.

    I would not personally recommend that ACER (I am not a fan of their products, they are relatively low end).

    Consider something like Samsung. Sure they cost more, but in the long run, they will last longer. LCDs suffer things like pixel burn out and frozen pixels - cheaper monitors may only last a year or two and then start to have problems. A well designed LCD like the Samsung could conceivably last 10 years with no problems. Like anything when talking about computers, you get what you pay for.

    Cheers
    Shad
    post edited by foxwolfen - 2008/04/29 22:33:14

    A scientist knows more & more about less & less till he knows everything about nothing, while a philosopher knows less & less about more & more till he knows nothing about everything.

    Composers Forum
    #8
    zippsinc
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    RE: RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive 2008/04/29 21:57:49 (permalink)
    Thanks foxwolfen

    I'm coming round to your way of thinking. lol

    I'll just have to make sure that the monitor(s) I buy are DVI-D compatible. I'll be sure to check out the Samsung stuff.

    Thanks again for clearing up my patchy knowledge of stuff. Thanks also to Losguy.


    Regards

    ZippsInc
    #9
    foxwolfen
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    RE: RAM, Monitor(s) and Hardrive 2008/04/29 22:16:51 (permalink)
    I sort of mislead you. DVI-I carries both Analog and Digital - its DVI-A that is analog only - It was bugging me so I decided to go check.

    Anyway, DVI-D is pretty much standard today.

    A scientist knows more & more about less & less till he knows everything about nothing, while a philosopher knows less & less about more & more till he knows nothing about everything.

    Composers Forum
    #10
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